Ballon D’Or host apologises as ‘twerk’ request causes storm

PARIS – French DJ Martin Solveig apologised and said he was taken aback by the stormy reaction online after he asked the inaugural women's Ballon D'Or winner Ada Hegerberg whether she could “twerk” live on stage.

The awards co-host in Paris provoked a torrent of complaints about sexism with his question about the sexually suggestive dance, which received a blunt “No” from the unamused Norwegian striker.

The incident was a major talking point despite Hegerberg's achievement in becoming the first winner of the women's Ballon D'Or, an award which has been handed to male footballers since 1956.

Solveig, a musician and radio host, apologised in person to Hegerberg and said he was “astonished” at the reaction.

“Guys I'm a little bit amazed, astonished by what I'm reading on the internet,” he said in a video posted on Twitter. “Of course I didn't want to offend anyone… This was a joke, probably a bad one and I want to apologise for the one I may have offended.”

As footage of the incident went viral, British tennis player Andy Murray led the backlash when he thundered: “Why do women still have to put up with that sh*t?”

“What questions did they ask (Kylian) Mbappe and (Luka) Modric?” he posted on Instagram, referring to the winners of the best young player and the men's Ballon D'Or.

“I'd imagine something to do with football.

“And to everyone who thinks people are overreacting and it was just a joke… it wasn't. I've been involved in sport my whole life and the level of sexism is unreal.”